There has been a recent increase in the number of photographs of older ships uploaded to the website under the heading of "From My Collection" also seen is "Photographer Unknown" or quite often nothing to indicate the author of the original but from the photograph it is obvious it was not taken by the member who uploaded it and that it has been acquired or purchased even maybe copied from another source.

If a photograph is uploaded as such then it can be considered as Copyright Infringement and this Website has very clear rules on this and they are laid out in "Uploading Photos Guidance" Rule 7 clearly states "When uploading Members must comply with the Copyright Law". the rules also state that if you are uploading photographs not taken by you then you must give the Authors name and that you have approval to use them, this information must be given with an uploaded photograph, sadly this is not always the case and no credit is given.

We do have members uploading to the Website photographs that they do not own, I will not name them but you will know who I am referring to, I can assure you and they can confirm that they have been thoroughly checked for authenticity of the information they give, I have insisted that they do this for the credibility of this website so they are not affected by this decision, the details they provide with their uploads have been approved.

This question of uploading without any credit to the Author or Approval for use could have serious consequences for this website and I have a duty to protect the Website from any possible legal litigation, so with this in mind it has been decided that from today Tuesday Dec 10th 2013 all photographs uploaded to this website and not owned by the member will only be accepted if the Authors name and approval to use them is given with the photograph, "From My Collection" or "Unknown" will no longer be accepted and if uploaded as such they will be removed, I should also stress that if the details required are given and prove to be false then the member has to accept full responsibility, they have been accepted in good faith.

So to sum up, this Website was, and as far as I am concerned still is for uploading your Own photographs that are taken by you personally, obviously with its expansion it has rather drifted away a little from that principle but I would like to encourage a return to that idea for the future, we have plenty of homemade talent, let us make use of it.

i would go further ken by deleting all photographs not assigned a photographers name and permission to use,the whole point of the site surely is shipspotting,i can,t see the point of uploading somebody else,s work. the site needs to get back to basics.ie going out with your equipment to capture your own images (good or bad) that i think is the true meaning of shipspotting

Since you have raised the topic of Copyright perhaps it would be beneficial for all concerned for the issue to be clarified. How long does Copyright last, indefinite, cease when the photographer dies or elapse after a certain period of time?

The copyright issue came to the fore recently in the music industry where copyright expires after fifty years, is it the same for photographs?

As the site is quite rightly asking members to comply with this law, maybe the site should offer some advice on the subject in order to avoid litigation.

I am of course well aware of the problem of posting other photographers work. I was merely trying to get the copyright issue clarified.

Most of my photographs are over fifty years old. The prime reason I responded to this subject is to try to establish the legal position of my own photographs. As I am sure many other members are. As the site is taking a legal stance I was rather hoping that someone connected to the site would have this information.

That seems to me a welcome decision, Ken.Perhaps a message of explanation from yourself to those of whom you are aware who, with the best of intentions, have been posting material that will no longer be acceptable, would be appropriate as they may not see the announcement. But maybe you've already thought of that.

As you know I post a lot of pictures on behalf of Piero Corona. If there would be any doubt about his authorisation to do so I suggest you contact him directly and ask for his consent. Other members may do the same to indemnify the site against possible copyright claims.